Chapter 1713 Renzijuan lobbying, fighting again

  Chu Qi went to Niu Jizong's side, but now he should be heading south.

As Prince Yizhong's right-hand man and second planner in the north, Chu Qi focuses more on strategic planning, while Wang Zinian assists more in handling specific affairs. Of course, the two are only relative to each other. In fact, in operation, it depends on the actual situation. To decide.

   For example, the matter of coordinating the Xuanfu army was handed over to Chu Qi, which was related to whether Prince Yizhong could gain a foothold in the capital city, and Prince Yizhong also gave Chu Qi full authority to coordinate and handle the actions of the Xuanfu army.

They also made the worst plan before, that is, if the Xuanfu army's attack is unfavorable, for example, the Jizhen army comes too fast and blocks the Xuanfu army, or even under the unfavorable situation of the war, the Xuanfu army retreats to the territory of Xuanfu town, the next step how to.

  The original idea was to consider two paths.

  One way is that if the situation in the capital city is stalemate, then the Xuanfu Army, the Datong Army, and even the various ministries in Shanxi Town that can be commanded by Niu Jizong will temporarily stand still to watch the situation change, but at the same time make various countermeasures.

The other way is to determine that the situation is unfavorable. It is difficult for Prince Yizhong to gain support in the capital city, so he can only go south. The main force of the Xuanfu army and those who can be mobilized in the second town of Datong and Shanxi will also go south, but this is not a trivial matter. It is necessary to go south all the way through Baoding, Zhending, and Damingfu. It is difficult for these departments to get support in the Northland. Once the logistics supplies are cut off, it is likely to fall into chaos. Then you need to make a decisive decision and go south immediately, but this is a long way. Going south, if the local food and grass supplies are not guaranteed, it is impossible to do it.

   Either grab it all the way, or simply attack the city and pull out the stronghold, occupy and control these northern passes and places, obtain food and supplies by themselves, and wait for the opportunity.

   These are very complicated considerations, and they all depend on the changes in the situation in the capital city, especially how much support Prince Yizhong can get from the civil servants, and the attitude of the local government.

   Now no one can judge, after the showdown, what will the court officials think, and what will the local officials do.

   There is even a very huge variable, that is, once the emperor wakes up, what should he do? This is also a factor that civil servants need to consider.

  What if the emperor suddenly wakes up after reaching an agreement with Prince Yizhong?

  To overthrow all of them, take down Prince Yizhong, or even kill them all, so as to avoid future troubles? Or simply do nothing and continue to carry out the "Change of Seizing the Door" to the end?

  Prince Yizhong also has to consider this situation.

   Although civil servants don't care too much about who is the emperor, they still need face.

Emperor Yonglong really passed away, so it is reasonable for them to accept Prince Yizhong, but when Emperor Yonglong wakes up, it may be difficult for them to do something like "the change of seizing the door". After all, most of these civil servants were promoted by Emperor Yonglong alone Those who came up did not have much intimacy with Prince Yizhong themselves, and it was difficult for them to abandon orthodoxy as a scholar's basic etiquette.

The inability of the Xuanfu army to enter the city to control the situation in one fell swoop means that the wind direction is unlikely to follow the best prediction at first, but this point, Prince Yizhong, Chu Qi, Wang Zinian and others did not expect to be able to achieve smooth sailing overnight. The result of Emperor's assassination and coma was a bit unexpected, but it was a desperate attempt. If it didn't work out, then the second way would have to be considered.

  Facing Prince Yizhong's inquiry, Wang Zinian couldn't help swallowing his saliva, and said with difficulty: "My lord, I'm afraid we still have to plan for the worst."

"You mean to let Gu go south without even trying?" Prince Yizhong shook his head, "No, you can't do this, even if Gu is forced to go south in the end, it's definitely not now. It is a situation, that is, when the fourth brother wakes up and the situation deteriorates, as long as the fourth brother does not wake up, Gu believes that the officials in the court will not dare to do anything out of line with him."

   "But the Xuanfu army's raid on the capital city failed, and we have lost the possibility of controlling the capital city..." Wang Zinian said in a deep voice.

"Who will die is still unknown." Prince Yizhong's face was very calm, "The officials in the court are not very optimistic about the sons of the fourth son. I am very clear about this, especially Zhang Chi, who seems to be the heir apparent logically. Even the fourth child himself doesn't like him. He is cowardly, frivolous, and has no appearance of a gentleman. The fourth child wants Zhang Su to take the position, but Zhang Su is only fourteen years old. How can he convince the public? He really wants to help him A ride, but now?"

   "Then what are your plans, my lord? What are you going to do in the capital city? What if..." Wang Zinian was a little anxious.

"Wealth and wealth are sought in danger, if Gu has no guts, why should he sit on the throne?" Prince Yizhong pondered and said: "Gu is thinking, what are Ye Xianggao and the others thinking now, do they just sit and wait for the fourth son?" Wake up? A day or two is fine, ten days and a half a month, March and May?"

"Then you mean to get in touch with the officials in the court?" Wang Zinian also asked tentatively: "If it is difficult to contact Ye Xiang for the time being, what about the princes of the Six Departments? For example, Gao Panlong, Huang Ruliang, and Liu Yixie and Gu Bingqian, they are all from the south of the Yangtze River, so you might as well make a wish and try it out..."

Prince Yizhong also felt a bit embarrassed. Without the backing of the Xuanfu army, most of them would not make a clear statement to test these people. It is possible to win over, but how meaningful is it? , Refusing to express his attitude means that he is not very optimistic about himself, which is indeed a bit difficult.

The current situation is really too chaotic, an emperor who is not sure when he will wake up or whether he will wake up, a few princes who are not good enough but still fighting endlessly, and a righteous man who is coveting but has failed to take the initiative and lacks righteousness Prince Zhong, and a group of civil servants who are in charge of the central government but still have erratic minds, and their own internal opinions may not be completely unified, and there are also Jiangnan gentry who are making noise. How can this situation be solved?

"Zi Nian, why don't you contact Huguang scholars first." Prince Yizhong pondered for a while, "Scholars from Jiangnan, I guess they won't trust us too much, after all, Tang Binyin, Miao Changqi and Zhu Guozhen are in Nanjing. They are too active. Gao Panlong and Huang Ruliang are very disgusted. We can’t talk to the scholars in the north. After all, this was the basic set of the fourth brother in the past. Only the scholars from Huguang, have you noticed that there is no A scholar from Huguang, among the seven ministers, only Guan Yingzhen is the minister of Shang, and among the seven left servants, there is only Chai Ke. It is said that the scholars of Huguang complained about this situation,..."

"Chai Ke is not in Beijing, but went to Tiewangshan, only Guan Yingzhen, Xiong Tingbi, and Guo Zhengyu were there." Wang Zinian hesitated and said: "Guan Yingzhen has always been closely related to scholars in the north, Xiong Tingbi and Guo Zhengyu are not very important. enough,…"

"Not necessarily. Although Zheng Jizhi has retired, he is still very influential among the Huguang scholars. You might as well get in touch with him. Guan Yingzhen has a different status now. He is the leader of the Huguang scholars. He wants to represent the interests of the Huguang scholars. Maybe you can't talk about it, you can give it a try." Prince Yizhong chose his words carefully.

   "My lord, do you mean that we don't have contact with Ye Xianggao for the time being?" Wang Zinian rubbed his chin.

"You can find someone to find out what's going on. You can't contact them directly. Once the other party denies it, there is no room for maneuver. It is estimated that Fang Congzhe and Qi Yongtai are not in Beijing, and he will not give any answer." Prince Yizhong rubbed his cheeks, "Niu Jizong has a big problem for Gu. If his Xuanfu army is under the capital city, or even entered the capital city, why should Gu be so embarrassed? In addition, he needs to pay attention to the social situation and public opinion in Beijing at any time, and see the attitude of the scholars and the people. Gu estimates that the news that the fourth brother is unconscious will spread in Beijing soon."

  *******

  Just as Prince Yizhong was sighing with sorrow, the battle was raging outside Gonghua City.

   After confirming that Gonghua City must be taken to avoid future worries, Niu Jizong didn't hesitate, and immediately Case organized a large army to attack Gonghua City.

  Although there are four gates in Gonghua City, since it has gradually become the most important food, grass, weapons and other material supply center for Ji Town and Xuan Mansion in the west of Beijing, the north and south gates are basically closed and no longer used. The east and west gates are usually opened.

  The east and west gates also became the focus of attack.

  There are more than 30,000 troops gathered around Gonghua City. It stands to reason that it should be no problem to capture a small Gonghua City with the elite of Xuanfu, but for this Xuanfu army, it is a bit embarrassing.

  Because they never considered attacking the city before.

  According to the original assumption, that is to rush directly to the capital city in one go. With strong military pressure and Prince Yizhong's activities in the city, the goal should be achieved. Who would have thought that they would encounter resistance here.

  This is why when the Yu River was blocked at that time, they could not organize a crossing for half a day. If it was an ordinary battle, they would definitely bring some materials and materials related to the pontoon bridge, and there was no need to temporarily find civilian boats to cross the river.

Although Gonghua City is not big, and the city walls are not so tall and majestic, they are still more than three feet high. In addition, the Xuanfu Army pays attention to the speed of attack, so they don't carry the heavy Xiyi cannons that are used to attack the city. , so that if you want to siege the city, you need at least relatively simple siege equipment such as siege vehicles and ladders.

   Fortunately, Niu Jizong is considered a veteran, so he brought some materials just in case, and quickly built some ladders and siege vehicles. It may be a bit crude and sparse, but it is more than enough for a city like Gonghua City.

The ferocious attack has been in full swing since it was announced. The Xuanfu army is all veterans and elites who are used to fighting. Basic skills such as the city are not lacking.

  The morale of He Huchen, who had just won a complete victory in the stone bridge blocking battle, was also high, and they were not afraid of the first battle.

  So from the very beginning, the two sides fought fiercely.

  (end of this chapter)